Coming soon: TV series based on the film 'Shutter Island'

HBO and Paramount Television are coming together to developing the TV drama Ashecliffe, a origin tale based on Martin Scorsese’s crime thriller Shutter Island. Scorsese will direct the pilot with a script from Dennis Lehane, who penned the novel on which the 2010 pic was based.

The original story was set around Ashecliffe, a hospital for the criminally insane and followed two federal marshals, one played by DiCaprio, who investigate the disappearance of a murderess who escaped from the hospital and is presumed to be hiding nearby.

This series will play as a prequel to that film and show the hospital’s origins and the secrets and misdeeds of its founders.

HBO and Scorsese already team on Boardwalk Empire, which begins its final season Sept 7 in the United States. The two are also developing an untitled drama on the 1970s rock ‘n roll scene.

Bestselling novelist Lehane is also becoming a hot screenwriter, with his debut script The Drop out next month. He also recently penned the Travis McGee adaptation The Deep Blue Goodbye and Sony’s remake of The Prophet. On the TV front, Lehane consulted and did script work on the last season of Boardwalk Empire. Scorsese is repped by WME and LBI Entertainment and Lehane is repped by IPG. Deadline Hollywood first reported the news. — Reuters